Before

I'm sitting in the JFK airport right now, waiting to board my flight to Reykjavik, and I wanted to write one more thing here before I leave for the next 7 weeks. I've been sitting here for a couple of hours (conveniently used up my 30 minutes of free Wifi, sorry Mom) and the only thing I could think of writing is something that I can look back on at the end of this trip and say "oh the good ole days." 

So here is a brief list of what I know about Iceland, as a wee little pre-Iceland baby. I put it in small text so you can skip over it if you don't care. Note that all this information could be completely incorrect. 

• Language is really important to Icelanders. They pride themselves in preserving it and protecting it. Iceland also produces more books per capita than any country in the world. 
• There aren't a ton of animals in Iceland, mainly foxes, horses, and rodents, but they have puffins (!!) in addition to lots of other unique species of birds (sorry em and kell if you're reading this). 
• Iceland is one of the happiest places in the world, because those who suffer together stay together apparently. 
• Iceland's electricity is produced entirely from renewable (geothermal and hydroelectric) resources. They also consume more electricity per capita than any other country in the world.
• Icelanders love their liquids -- specifically coffee and alcohol. In the winter they drink to distract themselves from the darkness and in the summer they drink to celebrate the light. AKA all year long they look for excuses to drink. 

I'm going to stop there before I embarrass myself. In these last couple of minutes, I am reminded of one of the best movies ever made, Winnie the Pooh (2011), when Christopher Robin leaves a note saying "GON OUT. BIZY. BACK SOON." Here's Pooh with the note as a visual aid:

Owl, being dumb and annoying, misinterprets this note as an S.O.S. from Christopher Robin, who they think has been kidnapped by a monster called the Backson. Here's Owl's description (in song form, naturally): 

"Its hide is like a shaggy rug

Its face a surly ugly mug

With 2 sharp horns atop its head

Between a mop of hair that's red

And in its nose a ring of gold 

It smells of monkey feet and mold 

Its toes are black, its fur is blue

I SWEAR THAT ALL I TELL YOU IS NOT MADE UP!"

Which all sounds about as credible as my Iceland facts from earlier. 

So, as a farewell before I get on this plane...

Dear the US of A, 

GON OUT. BIZY. BACK SOON.

Love, Charlie

(That was a stretch, the whole Backson story was really just a plug for Winnie the Pooh. Oops!)